Rev. Henley's sermon on November 15, 2009
Wisdom, throughout our human story has been seen as a feminine characteristic, an intuitive knowing. However,
when the enlightened philosophers separated the mind from the body and organic matter,
when they elevated the thought processes to the realms of true beauty and knowledge,
when they began to equate wisdom with "rational" thinking,
then, it became a masculine characteristic.
However, there have always been those who recognized wisdom as intuitive.
Today, we will explore this feminine wisdom and our psyche, then, we will look at the divine feminine, and finally, the wisdom of Proverbs Sophia.
Suppose you had a dream in which you were lost. Something like this one from Carl Jung’s Man and his symbols. [by Carl Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz].
“It was midday and I wanted to go on to the pass. As all the others preferred to remain, I went up alone…. However, I found myself right back in the valley and completely lost my orientation. I wanted to return to my party but did not know which mountainside I should climb. I was hesitant about asking. Finally, an old woman showed me the way I must go.”
Who is this old woman in your dream?
“The helpful ‘old woman’ is a well-known symbol in myths and fairy tales for the wisdom of the eternal female nature.” [Jung, Man and his symbols] We all have an “old woman” within. One writer [Caitlin Matthews in Sophia Goddess of Wisdom] tells us, the old woman represents “the wisdom with which all living things are imprinted.”
“Throughout the ages [hu]mans have been intuitively aware of the existence of an inner…” self, Jung wrote.
We have a “Self” which is the totality of our whole psyche. There is a male characteristic which he calls the animus. There is the feminine aspect of our “Self,” which he calls the anima. This anima guides each of us in our life’s journey.
“The Greeks called it man’s inner daimon, in Egypt it was expressed by the concept of the Ba-Soul; and the Romans worshiped it as the ‘genius’ native to each individual.” [Jung/von Franz.] Others use the term “soul.” Jung believed the “Self” leads us to “individuation” or psychic growth. He calls it self-realization. Others have called it self-actualization or the impulse to realize one’s fullest potential.
And this is what I love about Jung:
“[this psychic growth is a] subjective experience [that] conveys the feeling that some supra-personal force is actively interfering in a creative way. One sometimes feels that the unconscious is leading the way in accordance with a secret design.”
“... One sometimes feels that the unconscious is leading the way in accordance with a secret design.”
I would say, perhaps you, too, would say, that this unconscious leading is God’s doing. This unconscious leading is God’s doing.
The book of Proverbs is one of the oldest books in the Scriptures. It is a collection of advice from the most ancient of traditions, from the lands once called Mesopotamia: Persia, Sumer, Syria, Assyria, Canaan, and Egypt.
In many of these cultures the Creator is personified as female. There are many names, a few you may recognize: Ishtar, Isis, and Nut. Many scholars claim Mother Earth as the first divinity and the fertility goddess as the primary divinity of ancient worship.
The name for wisdom in Proverbs is female and her name is Sophia. She was there in the beginning; she was co-creator with YHWH, his helpmate, his playmate. How do we explain this co-creator when the Hebrew people were monotheistic? When a feminine presence is as much a part of our “Self” as a masculine presence, maybe it is like other things in our life. We know them, we see them, but we don’t question.
It did make a difference, however, when a patriarchal god supplanted Mother Earth and Wisdom and subjugated women.
Scholars like Leonard Shlain who wrote The Alphabet Versus the Goddess tell us that women were more prominent in the oral traditions of antiquity. It was only when the alphabet and the written word became the dominant way to convey story, that the dominant figures became men.
Personally, I think men got tired of dying. You know, don't you, that the number seven is symbolic for "completeness" or "fullness." Well, in some of the matriarchal cultures, they got rid of the representative of the "male god" or the "fertility god" every seven years. So, I think the men just got tired of being killed off every seven years!
AGAIN, Maybe, having both as part of our soul, a divine feminine is taken for granted. When a divine feminine is recognized or assumed, the culture is very different than what we see today in our world.
Did you know that in some ancient traditions husbands didn’t even have names in a matrilineal clan until they had children. Then he could call himself Abu, father of. In some, a husband was regarded as a more or less permanent guest in the wife’s home. In ancient Egypt, considered by many scholars to have been one of the strongest matriarchal cultures, marriages were governed by premarital agreements that spelled out the wife’s property rights and the comparative powerlessness of the husband under the law. Egyptian priests advised husbands to remain in their wives good graces, much as later Christian priests advised wives to make themselves subservient to their husbands.
In early Asiatic cultures, kingship depended on the choices of women. Kings were rarely succeeded by their sons. In Sumeria and Assyria women were the “kingmakers.” It was essential that kings marry the Goddess’ representative or priestess. Ancient Akkadian kings went on military expeditions to prove themselves worth of marrying this holy woman. That is how marriage became Holy Matrimony.
Not all ancient cultures were matriarchal, but humankind, being closer to the earth, its seasons, and the cycles of life and rebirth, the feminine presence was certainly more visible than it is today.
[Pause]
It is not surprising that Wisdom in Proverbs is Sophia. And this wisdom is not the rational thought of the rational brain; it is “the wisdom with which all living things are imprinted.”
Wisdom Gives a Feast
Wisdom has built her house … prepared the … Her feast is ready.
She has sent her servant women to announce her invitation from the highest hills:
Everyone who is ignorant or foolish is invited! If you want to live, give up your foolishness and let [wisdom] guide your steps."
Whether it is Jung who tells us to study our dreams,
or a spiritual director who tells us to listen to the “old woman” within;
or our counselor guiding us, it is not easy to wise.
Wisdom is something for which we must struggle. She may put out the feast, but it is hard to eat. We have to give up our foolishness. And what do we have to give up?
We have to give up the belief that outward appearances, and this is true of most cultures today, whether they are post-modern or still rooted in the past—we have to give up the belief that outward appearances are the most important aspect of our lives.
We have to give up our illusion that we are separate from each other. That what we do does not affect anyone else.
We have to give up our tolerance of a culture that objectifies everyone—women and men.
We have to give up our edification of rational thought as superior to intuitive thought.
We have to give up our ego which is always threatened by psychic growth.
We can never reach our fullest potential, that given to us by God, if we are fooled by a world that has no care for our souls.
We can never reach our fullest potential, that given to us by God, if we are fooled by a world that has no care for our souls.
What gives us comfort at night when we lay our head on our pillows? Is it the size of our home or money in our bank account? What gives us peace in our lives? Is it the security alarm installed on the doors and windows? What brings us joy? Is it the electronic games on our HDTV?
We have to give up our foolishness and embrace the struggle of the inner journey. A journey that feels like “the unconscious is leading the way in accordance with a secret design.”
A secret design of Sophia’s doing.
keep me safe, protect my heart,
and with the wisdom you impart
fill up my empty mind and soul
so that, my Lover, you can make whole,
all [the foolishness of] this day –
Reading I
Sophia's Light:
In darkest night, when lights are dim,
and all in sight seems sad and grim,
I find you there, your arms surround me,
your spirit fills me and it grounds me.
I look to you, Lady of Truth,
most ancient One, yet eternal youth,
to keep me safe, protect my heart,
and with the wisdom you impart
fill up my empty mind and soul
so that, my Lover, you can make whole,
all that was broken in this day –
and that is what I ask and pray.
Reading II
Proverbs 9:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)
Wisdom Gives a Feast
1Wisdom has built her house
with its seven columns.
2She has prepared the meat
and set out the wine.
Her feast is ready.
3She has sent her servant women
to announce her invitation
from the highest hills:
4"Everyone who is ignorant
or foolish is invited!
5All of you are welcome
to my meat and wine.
6If you want to live,
give up your foolishness
and let understanding
guide your steps."